Travel Health Journal

IAMAT Doctors

A new frontier for IAMAT scholars We were thrilled to award the Stella & George Bryant Travel Medicine Scholarship to two deserving doctors in 2016. The scholarship enabled Weedgina St Vil of Cap-Haïtien, Haiti and Manuel Villalobos of San José, Costa Rica to take a travel medicine short course at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in November. Weedgina and Manuel also participated in clinical observation at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases travel clinic. We are grateful to Dr. Ron Behrens for organizing the course at LSHTM and making the clinical component possible. Meet Weedgina and Manuel Manuel and Weedgina are using what they learned to become travel medicine pioneers in Costa Rica and Haiti. Both ...

Exploring travel medicine and global health Cross-cultural experience is invaluable for travel medicine practitioners. Three of our scholars recently had the opportunity to hone their knowledge and skills with travel health experts in South Africa and the USA. Ahmad Mosad Ibraheem of Mansoura, Egypt attended a 5-day course in Johannesburg with the South African Society of Travel Medicine (SASTM). Meng Jing (Angeline) of Chengdu, China and Liu Chunfang (Kathleen), of Shenzhen, China spent 8 weeks studying tropical medicine and global health at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. Angeline and Kathleen currently practise travel medicine, while Ahmad is planning to introduce it into his practice. After they recovered from jet lag, we caught up with ...

This is the third post in our three-part “Meet Our Doctors” series. In previous posts, IAMAT doctors shared how their international experience helps them understand your health concerns, but here’s one of the biggest reasons doctors join our network: they’re travellers too! For the love of travel IAMAT doctors are passionate about travel. They want travellers to have a memorable travel experience in their countries. Here’s why they love travel, in their own words. “I am always motivated and rewarded by a sense of duty and fulfillment in seeing travelers get back on their feet again, doing what they came to do. Travellers are true ambassadors of our common humanity and goodwill, something I love to advocate. Travel the world, come ...

This is the second post in our three-part “Meet Our Doctors” series. Looking after travellers is an integral part of practicing travel medicine. Travel medicine physicians are in a unique position to provide the best care for travellers, particularly at a primary care level. — Dr. Sonny Lau (Melbourne, Australia) Understanding of local health conditions Most of our doctors treat local people in their own countries, with IAMAT members making up a small proportion of their patients. They are deeply knowledgeable about local illnesses and how to navigate the health system. Most IAMAT doctors are general practitioners or internal medicine specialists, although some have completed additional training and specialize in areas such as travel medicine. Take Dr. Ngoe Anthony Nesoah in Ngaoundéré, ...

This is the first post in our three-part “Meet Our Doctors” series. An international health perspective You rely on our doctors to keep you healthy abroad, but there’s more to them than just medical expertise. Our doctors hail from countries around the world, bringing with them a deep understanding of both travellers’ health concerns and the local health system. Many of our doctors regularly treat expatriates and local people as well as travellers. Why do doctors join our network? Across the board, our doctors had one major reason for joining IAMAT: Because they care about your health. Here’s what they told us recently, in their own words. I joined the IAMAT network by chance, having been shown one of IAMAT’s maps ...

This article is part of our 55th Anniversary blog series. To learn more, visit our 55th Anniversary page. Building bridges across the Pacific In 1995, Dr. Elaine Jong, Chair of IAMAT’s International Medical Board and Assunta Uffer-Marcolongo, President were invited to attend the first Chinese Travel Medicine Conference in Shanghai. This conference was organized by Professor Gu Jin Xiang, a Chinese physician who foresaw the need for establishing travel medicine clinics in China, not only for visitors but also for Chinese travellers going overseas in ever larger numbers. Elaine and Assunta were invited to give lectures on travel vaccines used in Western countries, preparation of travellers for their journeys and discussions of the spread of infectious diseases through travel. In ...

We recently checked in with Dr Zhang Min from Guangzhou and Dr He Lei from Hangzhou, recipients of the 2015 IAMAT-China Travel Medicine Scholarship. Min and Lei are participating in an eight week Tropical Medicine and Global Health course at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston with Dr Lynn Soong, Professor of Microbiology/Immunology and Parasitology. Both Min and Lei are certified travel health practitioners. Min was IAMAT’s first scholarship recipient in 2002 and has mentored many of her Chinese colleagues preparing for the ISTM Certificate in Travel Health examination. The course covers epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of tropical infectious diseases. Min and Lei are also learning about major global health challenges such as treatment ...

We’re pleased to welcome Dr David Muchiri Munyi to the IAMAT family. Dr Muchiri is the recipient of this year’s IAMAT Violet Williams Travel Medicine Scholarship, which provides a full scholarship for an African doctor or nurse to attend a travel medicine course offered by the South African Society of Travel Medicine (SASTM). Dr Muchiri is a Senior House Officer in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Nairobi, Kenya. The AKUH is a teaching and referral hospital with residents Surgical, Pediatric, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Pathology and Radiology. Dr Muchiri will be attending the SASTM travel medicine training course in Johannesburg from May 13-17. We caught up with him to ...

This week, we’re sharing a letter to our members from Dr. Elaine Jong. Dr. Jong is Chair of IAMAT’s International Medical Advisory Board and Clinical Professor (Emeritus) of Medicine at the University of Washington. This article is part of our 55th Anniversary blog series. To learn more, visit our 55th Anniversary page. When IAMAT was established in 1960, travellers did not have timely information on health conditions at their destination: There was no country-by-country advice on food and water safety, climate and environmental conditions, infectious diseases like malaria, or even vaccine recommendations. The health of travellers was not a priority for the medical community, but IAMAT changed all that and became a pioneer in the field of travel health. ...

We are very pleased to welcome physicians from the following countries to the IAMAT family. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Kingston, Jamaica Nairobi, Kenya Pokhara, Nepal Singapore Barcelona and Zaragoza, Spain We’re continuously adding more trusted medical and mental health practitioners to our network. The image above shows the location of IAMAT affiliated clinics around the world. These English-speaking doctors are vetted by us and are ready to help IAMAT members. See why travellers choose the IAMAT medical system. To access the listings online login with your member and postal code. You can also contact us to get a copy of our Medical Directory.